According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a Chinese woman became the first person to die from a type of bird flu rare in humans, but the strain does not appear to have spread among humans.
A 56-year-old woman from the southern province of Guangdong was the third confirmed case. H3N8 subtype of avian influenza, WHO said in a statement late Tuesday.
read more:
Chile detects bird flu in 53-year-old man with severe flu symptoms
All cases have occurred in China, with the first two reported last year.
The Guangdong Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported a third infection late last month but did not provide details of the woman’s death.
According to WHO, the patient had multiple underlying medical conditions and a history of exposure to live poultry.
Sporadic infections of people infected with avian influenza are common in China, where the avian influenza virus is constantly circulating in large domestic and wild bird populations.
A sample taken from a wet market the woman visited before she became ill tested positive for influenza A(H3), WHO said, suggesting this could have been the source of the infection. .
Although rare in humans, H3N8 is common in birds and causes little or no disease symptoms. It also infects other mammals.
According to WHO, no other cases have been found among the close contacts of the infected woman.
“Based on the available information, the virus does not appear to have the ability to spread readily from person to person and therefore the risk of spread among humans at national, regional and international levels is considered low. WHO said in a statement.
Surveillance of all avian influenza viruses is considered critical given their evolutionary and pandemic potential.
